If you follow us on Instagram, you would have seen on our daily stories how much I am enjoying cooking this season. Is it me or does Spring make everything taste better?
Crisp, fresh, and vibrant, there is plenty to love in the produce here. Our fridge cannot be any fuller! The strawberries are plump, scented, and incredibly affordable. I cannot dream hard enough for the same prices to appear in The Phillipines.
Markus is loving the blueberries and has encouraged me to like them, too. In fact, I really enjoyed them on the blueberry muffins I baked, so much more than the dark chocolate muffins. What a shocker, I know!
Do you prefer blueberry muffins or dark chocolate muffins?
Plenty of baking is happening again, of course. I missed it actually. In The Philippines, my sisters bake spectacular bread that there is no need for me to start kneading. Now that I mention it, the same is true for cooking – they took care of us every day at home and we were very much spoiled!
Interestingly, it is becoming more difficult to find flour and oil here. The Germans seem to be panic-buying due to the situation in Ukraine. It is a hassle to shop, naturally, but at least they are hoarding food and not toilet paper! Are you experiencing any shortage where you are?
We continue to eat well though. We have more options than bread, fortunately. Rice, for example, will never abandon us. I have been cooking our asian favorites again, and our neighbor even told us she missed the smell of asian food coming from our home. That made me smile, and so does writing to you about food.
I am just so in love with it. Cooking is nourishing, creative, therapeutic, and an expression of love. I cannot wait for the rest of Spring to reveal its basket. I am looking at you, asparagus!
I have never cooked with it because asparagus does not appear in the Filipino plate. Do you like eating it? How do you cook it? No doubt, Markus’ mother has plenty of ideas to share, but I would appreciate it if you also told me your asparagus secrets.
One day, I hope we can share the same table.
Markus + Micah 
Oh wow.. we have the same place matt. LOL. I am starving. Those fruits and muffins are making me crave for them now.
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Thank you, Ikea. Hahaha!
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I knew it! Ikea has good stuff and not so pricey. I like those photos.
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OMG! I am salivating at this early hour because of your post and photos. Care to share some of your recipes? Especially the ramen one??
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The ramen is very similar to the recipe by George Lee. It is super easy to find his recipe on his feed on Instagram. Let me know how it goes when you try it!
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Everything looks delicious! I love asparagus. I roast it in the oven (or toaster oven) with a coating of lemon juice, Parmesan, and garlic salt.
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That sounds really fresh and yum. Will definitely have to try it. I have a feeling it will be tasty in pasta, too. Thank you!
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I absolutely love blueberries but I will take the chocolate muffin!
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Fair enough! In The Ph, blueberries do nit grow naturally so I am not used to its flavor. Chocolate is always a winner though. The muffins I baked are 70% dark so they are not sweet, too.
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Oh my! Gorgeous presentation! I am hungry now. 😆
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Haha. I wish you get yourself a really nice bowl of food now!
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I would love that! Be right over. I wish!
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Sigh, same! Maybe one day. You never know!
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Maybe. You are right! You never know.
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The food looks amazing. Just love them all!
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Salamat! What is local Maldives food?
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They have this main dish called Garudhiya, it’s similar to sinigang, they cook the Tuna or any other fish with clear soup. They are also highly influenced by Indian & Sri Lankan cuisine. They eat Roti and short eats like Samosa.
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It sounds yum – Maldives is definitely a future travel stop. Is it really expensive or is it possible for the trip to be reasonable, too?
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You can visit Maldives on a budget too 🙂 Unless you’d like to book ultra luxury resorts 😀
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Will definitely ask you for tips when the opportunity arises!
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Everything looks so delicious, healthy and beautiful!!
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Thank you. I noticed the produce here are incredibly fresh and it makes everything more delicious. There is really not a lot to do with the food because the ingredients are so fresh-tasting.
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These images and your food descriptions are so inspiring. I wish I could taste everything you make! And although I’m a chocoholic, I have to go with blueberry 🫐 when it comes to muffins!!
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Thank you. I choose the blueberry muffins this time, too. It has a lemon sugar crumb topping and I really like it!
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Wow!!
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Do you also enjoy baking a lot?
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Yes I LOVE baking. I also really love eating baked goods 🤣 But I enjoy baking because I’m good at following directions and being precise and I think you really need to do that in order to be a good baker.
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Aha, now I remember that you already mentioned this to me. I agree – baking is a science whereas we have more liberties like artists with cooking.
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WOW!!!! It all looks amazing!!
I prefer choc muffins. But I’m not a muffin person. And my family would pick 30+lbs of blueberries every couple years. I had enough.
I haven’t been to a grocery store but we’re facing increasing cat food shortages. Was just wet food. Now dry food too. It’s bad enough that I’m starting to be concerned and bulk buying when I can find it. Not crazy amounts but more than usual.
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What did your family do with all those blueberries? Reminds me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory where the fat boy became blue. Sorry to hear about the cat food shortages. It is really sad that the situation in Ukraine continues. It can’t end soon enough.
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Mostly made into preserves.
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Markus’ grandmother also did this a lot. Her basement is field with so many mystery jars and bottles from decades ago. I find it so fascinating.
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My mom made tons of fruit preserves but we always ate all of it. I didn’t learn the skill. I wish I’d made grapefruit marmalade before my tree stopped producing.
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Grapefruit marmalade sounds nice. I think it is cool to make your own food or food products. We always try to make time for it.
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My kitchen is horrible.. no prep room. Plus I had to put a litter box on there. So I don’t cook/bake anymore.
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I wish we were neighbors. I can bring food and you can let me pet your cats.
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Deal!!!
Yesterday I crossed paths with a woman walking a big, but young, golden retriever. He and I had a GREAT time meeting… lots of petting and belly rubs. I LOVE “gettin my dog on”!!!
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Animals are so cool. In The Ph, dog-walking is really not a thing. Dogs can go outside and they know how to come home. When I first saw everyone walking their dog here in Germany, I thought it was fascinating!
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That’s awesome!!
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Those blueberry muffins look scrumptious. The less you do with asparagus, the better I think. Simply grill with olive oil and salt, sprinkle with parmesan to serve.
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Thinking of asparagus this way makes me hungry! Thank you for the recommendation. I agree with doing less with it. Usually this works best with any good produce.
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Micah, my mouth is watering looking at all these delicious foods! Yum!
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I hope to cook for you one day, Kathy. You never know. Life is strange and wonderful.
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Wouldn’t that be wonderful?
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Oh my goodness. That all looks so delicious, Micah! You are making me hungry.
I love asparagus and can’t wait for the middle of May when it will be in season here and I can go to the farm and get some. We eat it every day from the middle of May to the end of June. I usually just steam it, but it’s delicious roasted in the oven—or on the barbecue—brushed with olive oil with a little parmesan sprinkled on top.
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Will definitely try asparagus. Thank you for your recommendation. Now it is not yet in abundance here. Perhaps also in May? There are green ones and white ones in the stores but not in heaps. I feel like it is coming soon though.
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This is a wonderful display of food, Micah. As for asparagus, we love it and it is grown locally here. We either buy it fresh, pickled or in tins. With fresh asparagus we often blanch it so it keeps its crispness. We also serve it with a white sauce. We put it in quiche. We have even had it as a soup. I have attached a link to this website, an awesome asparagus farm and a couple of recipes https://bickleyvalleyasparagus.com/recipes and also some interesting info re Kimberly Asparagus: https://qpi.net.au/kimberley-asparagus/ These guys are on Instagram too – the photos are, like yours, yummo 😊😊😊
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Thank you for such a thoughtful comment, Sean. Will explore the links amd give an update when I finally try asparagus in our kitchen. Now I am more excited!
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Your food plates are gorgeous, and I know everything tastes even better than it looks.
We like asparagus boiled but still a bit crisp. Even better is brushing the stalks with olive oil and putting them on a grill outside.
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Grilled asparagus sounds great, Anne! Can I also do that in an oven with the grill function?
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Grilling in the oven should work.
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Will try and update you!
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